Fix publish workflow artifact build and separate TestPyPI publishing

[Copilot]

The publish workflow failed with "Artifact not found for name: sdist" because build_artifacts job only printed placeholders instead of building artifacts. Additionally, TestPyPI and PyPI publishing were coupled in a single workflow.

Changes

Fixed artifact building

• build_artifacts now installs GLPK and build dependencies
• Executes python -m build --sdist and uploads artifact
• Handles optional wheel artifacts gracefully with continue-on-error

Separated publishing workflows with optimized triggers

• test_publish.yml: TestPyPI publishing
  • Automatic trigger on release publication (primary workflow)
  • Manual trigger with "test-publish" confirmation (optional)
• publish_pypi.yml: Production PyPI publishing (renamed from publish.yml)
  • Manual trigger only with "publish" confirmation
  • Run after verifying TestPyPI package works
  • Removed TestPyPI step (now separate workflow)

Shell script fixes

• Changed [ ! -f dist/*.tar.gz ] to ! ls dist/*.tar.gz >/dev/null 2>&1
• Fixed glob pattern expansion in artifact verification

Documentation

• .github/PUBLISHING_WORKFLOWS.md: Trusted publishing setup, workflow usage, troubleshooting
• Updated with recommended release process

Workflow structure

# TestPyPI (automatic on release)
verify_test → build_artifacts → publish_testpypi → verify_testpypi
                              ↓
                        (uploads sdist artifact)

# PyPI (manual only)
verify_release → build_artifacts → download_artifacts → publish_pypi → verify_publication
                                 ↓
                           (uploads sdist artifact)

Recommended Release Process

1. Create a GitHub release → test_publish.yml runs automatically and publishes to TestPyPI
2. Verify the package works on TestPyPI
3. Manually trigger publish_pypi.yml for production PyPI publishing

Both workflows build sdist independently. Wheels from build-wheels.yml are optional and merged if available.

Original prompt

---

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>CD/CI publish error</issue_title>
<issue_description>Github action .github/workflows/publish.yml failed. Here below the copilot analysis of the error. Besides, it is preferable that the current action points to TestPyPi rather than directly to PyPi. So, rename it after fixing and do changes to test_publish.yml

The job failed because the artifact named sdist could not be found or downloaded. The error message is:

Unable to download artifact(s): Artifact not found for name: sdist

Solution:
Ensure that the source distribution (sdist) is built and uploaded in a prior workflow or job before the step in publish.yml that downloads it. Currently, the build_artifacts job does not build or upload artifacts; it only prints placeholder messages.

To fix this, add a build and upload step for sdist in build_artifacts. For example:

• name: Build sdist
  run: python -m build --sdist

• name: Upload sdist
  uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
  with:
  name: sdist
  path: dist/*.tar.gz

Make sure these steps run before download_artifacts. This will ensure the sdist artifact is available when needed, resolving the failure.</issue_description>

<agent_instructions>Use any log information you can find</agent_instructions>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)

Custom agent used: CI/CD Expert
An agent expert in CI/CD for Python/Cython cross-platform builds

• Fixes CD/CI publish error #132

---

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[markobud]

@copilot This is excellent, but I'd swap the triggers of test_publish and publish_pypi. Let's test_publish be triggered by tagging a new release and publish_pypi be triggered manually

[Copilot]

@copilot This is excellent, but I'd swap the triggers of test_publish and publish_pypi. Let's test_publish be triggered by tagging a new release and publish_pypi be triggered manually

Done in commit 59f313b. The triggers have been swapped:

• test_publish.yml now triggers automatically on release publication (and can also be triggered manually)
• publish_pypi.yml is now manual-only with "publish" confirmation

The recommended workflow is now:

1. Create a release → TestPyPI publishes automatically
2. Verify the package on TestPyPI
3. Manually trigger PyPI publishing after confirmation

Documentation has been updated accordingly.

[github-actions]

Dependency Review

✅ No vulnerabilities or license issues or OpenSSF Scorecard issues found.

Scanned Files

• .github/workflows/publish.yml